


Muse

by fanfictiongreenirises



Category: Iron Man: Armored Adventures
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Don't copy to another site, Fanfic writer Rhodey, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, James "Rhodey" Rhodes-centric, M/M, Pepper Potts Has Pink Hair, no editing we typo like mne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 01:36:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21235991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises
Summary: Tony discovers that Rhodey writes fanfics, and takes measures into his own hands to figure out who Rhodey's muse is. Because it's obvious all these friends-to-lovers fics are based off someone.





	Muse

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the IM:AA universe but with the characters in uni together. Also I found out like two days ago that Pepper's hair in it is actually red, but I'm ignoring that for the rest of my life and sticking with the belief that it's pink. Happy reading!!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel.

THIS FANFICTION IS HOSTED ON **ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN**, WHERE YOU CAN READ IT FOR **FREE**. IF YOU’RE READING THIS ON A DIFFERENT WEBSITE, IT WAS POSTED THERE **WITHOUT** THE AUTHOR’S CONSENT.

Tony was chewing on his lip when Rhodey walked into his room. Instead of calling out a greeting – because at this point of their friendship, it was unnecessary – he placed his bag in an empty chair and shucked his jacket.

Tony hadn’t looked up when Rhodey had entered, staring into the screen of his laptop with unseeing eyes.

“Hey,” Rhodey called over his shoulder finally, heading over to the tiny fridge. “You want a drink? I have…” he frowned, “tap water and something that doesn’t belong in a fridge.” 

Tony blinked. “I’d have tap water,” he said, “but I brought over two giant bottles of iced coffee, which is infinitely better.”

“You mean will make sure you stay up until right before your first class starts, and then make me take notes for you because I actually got a good night’s sleep?” 

Tony nodded. “Yup, exactly, honeybear.”

Rhodey accepted a mouthful of the iced coffee anyway. “So, what’re you working on?” 

Tony stiffened almost imperceptibly, and then, seeming to come to a decision, spun around in the chair very fast. He didn’t really make eye contact with Rhodey as words came spilling out of his mouth, hands moving almost as fast as they gestured wildly. 

“Okay, before you go about getting mad, remember, it’s technically _your_ fault that you had it open and there was no screensaver or anything on it and that you’ve _told_ me tonnes of times that I can go on it to get our assignment stuff and it’s _really_ not my fault—”

“Tony,” Rhodey said in bewilderment. “What?”

But then Rhodey looked to the computer screen and his gut curdled in horror, heart rate spiking upwards immediately.

Tony was still looking at him with panicked eyes, but Rhodey’s mouth wouldn’t cooperate with him to say anything. “Um,” Tony said. “So, I might have read the entire thing?” His voice was meek, but there didn’t seem to be a hint of apology in it.

Rhodey let out a hiss of breath through his teeth, and kneaded his ridge of his nose. “Why.” It came out as a statement.

“Honestly? I was bored, and you were taking _forever_ and it wasn’t like I had to unlock the computer or anything.” Tony rushed to stand. “And I get why you didn’t tell me, because I’ve heard Miles rant about,” he made quotation marks, “‘the perception of fanfiction and fanfiction writers in contemporary times’, but this stuff is great! _And_ I was the one to introduce you to Marvel Comics in the first place!”

In fact, Tony seemed rather hurt that Rhodey hadn’t told him, but there was some other underlying emotion beneath that as well, something that Rhodey was way too exhausted from these last two minutes to even think about picking away at. He filed it in the back of his mind for when there was a spare moment – for when Tony maybe did something or acted a certain way that needed materials from the previous few weeks to decipher – and then flopped onto his bed.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, heart finally beginning to slow down a little. “Habit, I guess.”

“Can I read the rest of them?” Tony asked, hesitant.

“Go for it,” Rhodey said. “The rest of the files are in the same folder as the one that’s open.” And then he willed himself to fall asleep.

* * *

It’d started off as a writing exercise, introduced to Rhodey by a tutor his mother had made him see for a few months to make sure his writing skills were on par with the rest of his academics. He’d had issues with creative writing, not knowing how to translate what was in his head onto a page. But the only thing that had truly stuck in him was the fanfiction exercise.

As soon as his tutor – Phil – had realised he actually enjoyed it, it became a sort of reward. They’d watch a movie, maybe, or read a short story, and then Rhodey would plan and write an essay on it, and while Phil was marking it, he would write a story set in the universe of the world they’d just inhabited, usually getting a couple thousand words.

The work had paid off – Rhodey’s English skills had vastly improved, and now that he was getting in regular practise, writing had become almost second nature (except for, y’know, _writer’s block_). It was a way to destress, to get pent-up emotions out of the way when he couldn’t go to the gym or out for a jog.

And then Rhodey had made the mistake of posting a fic online.

It hadn’t exploded or anything, but eight more down the line, and he’d gained some regulars, whose innocently made comments had pointed something out that Rhodey had never known about himself. 

_I can always count on you to dish out a nice dose of friends to lovers!! Thank you for writing <3_

_You’re my absolute fav writer for Armour Boyfriends!!! I’ve even read all your gen stuff – love how you interpret their friendship (bls write comics for Marvel)_

_ALKSJDGH I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED THIS IN MY LIFE UNTIL NOW OMG THE SLOW BURN WITH THE BOYS AND HOW THEY WENT FROM FRIENDS TO AWKWARD ACQUAINTANCES TO AWKWARD WE’VE-SLEPT-TOGETHER-OOPS TO LOVERS AHHHHHH_

It didn’t take an English major to see that there was a recurring theme in Rhodey’s stories, but it had apparently taken Rhodey a year and a half of reading and answering comments on them to realise.

He was _projecting_.

And now that Tony had found the fics, he would figure it out in an _instant_.

* * *

The first noticeable change in Tony’s behaviour began when they were in the cafeteria.

“So, who do you normally sit with?” he asked brightly, eyeing the row of sandwiches that were being sold at one of the little cafes.

Rhodey gave him a questioning look. “What is this, high school?” he asked, amused. “I normally sit with myself, a textbook, and a sandwich.”

Tony sighed. “But you have friends,” he said. “Surely one of them come and meet you now, seeing how you just came out of class.”

Last semester had been the best one yet, in terms of times matching up to meet with friends, and particularly Tony. They’d been able to have both lunch and dinner together – their classes were in the same building most of the week, even sharing some.

This semester, not so much. The only reason Tony could be here with Rhodey now was because his lecture had been cancelled at the last minute, leaving Tony with two hours of empty space when he’d normally be eating instant noodles as he scribbled notes in a dark lecture hall.

Rhodey eyed him. “What’s with the sudden interest in my friends? This isn’t like the last time with the Halloween prank, is it?”

“No!”

But Tony refused to tell him what it _was_ about, instead questioning him about classes and peers for the rest of the night he was on campus.

* * *

Pepper almost gave Rhodey a heart attack a week later when, casually, she said, “I really liked the popcorn one you posted the other night.” 

Rhodey _immediately_ knew what she meant. “The popcorn one?” he asked nervously anyway, just in case she was referring to something other than the friends-to-lovers meet cute AU he’d posted two nights ago where the latter half of the fic involved Iron Man and War Machine having a movie marathon that ended in a popcorn fight.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Tony had fallen asleep on Rhodey’s bed five nights ago, snoring lightly with his hand loosely wrapped around a coffee mug. Maybe it had something to do with the way that Tony looked in the darkness of the room, the only light source being the flashes of colour coming from the ancient box of a TV Rhodey had found lying outside. Maybe it had something to do with the way Tony had looked at him when he’d woken up at two a.m., peering down at Rhodey using his thigh as a pillow because Tony was hogging the top half of his single bed.

Or maybe it had absolutely nothing to do with any of that. Rhodey would rather spoon bleach into his mouth than admit to it, in any case.

“The fic you wrote,” Pepper said impatiently, running her hands through her pink hair. And then her eyes widened. “Oh no,” she covered her mouth with a hand, “shit, was I not supposed to tell you I know?” 

Rhodey resisted the urge to sigh, a common occurrence around his friend. “Too late for that,” he told her. “Tony spilled it?”

Pepper nodded, but there was something in her eyes that told Rhodey she wasn’t telling him the whole truth. It didn’t matter, though; this was enough information to haunt Rhodey for the next three years.

“Great,” he muttered. “Who else has he told?”

“He didn’t even really tell me,” Pepper said in a rush. “I was just snooping on his laptop like I do and there were _so many tabs_ and I just had to go through all of them, and really, it’s his fault, because why leave it open—”

“Tony never leaves it open,” Rhodey said tiredly, “you just keep figuring out all his passwords.”

“And how is that my fault? Anyway, I did actually really like the story. Not enough action, though, but after all the proofreading I’ve done for Kamala, I figure I’ve read enough fics to know a classic trope when I see one.” 

“Kamala?”

“Yeah, she lives down the hall from me. You’ve probably seen her around – her friend Bruno’s in a bunch of your classes, so you’ve _definitely _seen her around. But anyway, can I borrow a few of your comics? I want to read the source material before I read any more.” 

Rhodey stared at her for a moment. This day was going nothing like he’d planned, and the whiplash was starting to get to him. “Yeah, sure,” he said a little numbly. 

“Thanks!” Pepper said, tone going a little high-pitched. “I’ll come around your place at nine ish.”

* * *

The third thing that Tony supposedly did was comment on each and every story Rhodey had ever posted online. Not only did he do that, but he responded and criticised every _other_ comment that had been made, leading to the total number of comments on Rhodey’s fics skyrocketing.

Rhodey didn’t particularly care about the response to his stories. He responded to the lengthier ones that went about analysing his work, and would answer questions, but that was about it. He didn’t write for people to tell him they loved it; he wrote because he had things he needed to get off his chest and putting two of his favourite characters through it was an efficient – and satisfying – way to do it. 

But that didn’t mean he would ignore it when Tony started fighting people who had left negative comments on his works.

_Tony_, he texted. _Dude. Stop_.

_Stop what???_ came the response.

_Attacking people who don’t like my fics. They can have their opinion._

_Their opinion is WRONG and I’m just letting them know that_

Rhodey sighed. _What does it matter what they think?_

_Bc you have to read them and they might make u sad :((_

Rhodey blinked. He hadn’t expected that. Instead of responding to that, he instead typed out _did u do q3 of the prac test?_ and that was that.

* * *

“Okay, none of the things I’ve tried have worked,” was the second thing Rhodey heard when he was rudely awoken by a loud bang (aka the first thing he’d heard).

He must’ve mumbled something in response, because the _third_ thing he heard was the sound of the tap running, and then suddenly there was a trickle of water dropping onto his face. 

Rhodey spluttered, coming to sit up with as he tried to move away from the cold water. His eyes took their sweet time adjusting to the change in brightness, and he rubbed away the wetness on his skin and the sleep out of his eyes.

“Dude,” he croaked. “The fuck? Even a goddamn kidnapper would have better manners than you.”

“Language, platypus,” Tony chided, shuffling around the room. Rhodey had finally sat woken up about halfway when he came and plopped down onto the bed. “Okay, I’ve been digging for _ages_ and I’ve still got nothing. So, spill.”

Barring that physics exam three years ago, Rhodey had never been more confused in his life. “Spill…what?” he asked tentatively, wondering what other means of torture Tony had up his sleeve. _Maybe the next move will be forcing me out of bed._

“Who your muse is,” Tony said, impatience tinging his voice. Despite all efforts to appear otherwise, there was something in his eyes that made Rhodey think that he was nervous about his answer.

“Muse?” Rhodey repeated, feeling like a broken record. “For the robotics assignment?”

“For your writing!”

“My…” _Oh_, Rhodey thought. _His fics._

Tony saw the realisation on Rhodey’s face and leaned back slightly, seeming satisfied that Rhodey at last knew what he was on about. He munched on a packet of popcorn that had appeared in his hand at some point without Rhodey realising it.

When Tony had first looked through his stories, Rhodey had felt dread creeping through his bones because he’d _known_ how obvious they were. Tony was the smartest person he knew; there had been no conceivable way for him to not connect the dots. But then, the longer Tony went without mentioning anything, the more Rhodey began to hope that maybe Tony would chalk it up to a trope he really liked or something. He’d let his guard down and pushed it to the back of his mind.

Now, it was all coming back to bite him in the arse.

“Why do you want to know?” Rhodey asked, squinting suspiciously at his friend.

Tony chewed on his lip as he stared at him, and Rhodey realised, all of a sudden, the sheer irony of this all. Hopefully this wouldn’t be tagged under ‘one-sided pining’ or ‘unhappy ending’.

“Because I’ve tried to work out who it could be based on people you hang out with regularly,” Tony’s voice took on the same tone he used when presenting his work to a teacher, “but the only people really are me, Pepper, and Happy. And then I thought, maybe some of the Air Force guys, but Sam’s the only one you really chill with and you guys already had your friends-with-benefits thing, so it wouldn’t really fit with the pattern. And _then_ I went and looked through people you might be talking to online from the fic community but there was pretty much no one.”

Rhodey wondered, not for the first time, whether maybe there was something in the ‘best friend’ description that made one party entirely oblivious to the other, romantically. He wished he hadn’t avoided the ‘unrequited’ works with such a passion now; they, at least, would’ve given him some sort of an idea of what to say right now.

“Well,” he finally said, “you aren’t wrong about Sam. Or Pepper and Happy. Who are dating, by the way.”

“_What?_” Tony looked flabbergasted. “And they didn’t tell me?”

Rhodey shrugged, glad for this momentary respite from discussing his non-existent love life. “I’m not sure if they told anyone, to be honest. I only know because I walked in on them outside Pepper’s room one time, but I don’t think they saw me.”

Tony’s eyes were bulging, but he coughed and was suddenly back with his nose stuck in Rhodey’s business. “Okay, definitely ruling them out, then,” he said. “Is it an online friend I couldn’t dig up? Maybe someone from back home, who you really liked in your childhood and then one of you had to move and you guys didn’t keep in touch but suddenly you think you see them, and woop, it’s the same person—”

Rhodey’s laughter interrupted Tony before he could finish. “Have you been reading up on the trope?”

“Of course I have! I had to do research before I started my investigation!”

“Your investigation into what, exactly?” It wasn’t as though Rhodey didn’t know; he just wanted to hear how Tony would phrase it.

“Your love life,” Tony said immediately, and then paused, pondering for a moment. “Actually, your crush life is more accurate.”

Rhodey nodded slowly. “Well,” he said. “You definitely know who it is. I’m not sure how he’d react if I told him, though.”

Tony’s face had done a spectacular twitch when Rhodey had told him it was someone he knew. “That’s a terrible way to live your life,” he told Rhodey frankly. “And I’m not letting you do it. It’ll be better when it’s out there – then you’ll know and you won’t spend the rest of your life pining after them. Confrontation is key.”

“Tony,” Rhodey said. “I’m in love with you.”

“Yes!” Tony said. “Just like that!” There was something a little fake about his smile.

Rhodey stared at him. “Tony,” he said. “I’m doing what you just told me to do. I’m confronting my ‘muse’.”

“What, now?” Tony glanced at the clock. “It’s a bit late, isn’t it? You don’t want him in a bad mood when you talk to him. That’s a terrible way to start a relationship.”

Had he really only moments ago thought of Tony as one of the smartest people he knew? “Tony,” Rhodey said slowly. “You’re him. You’re the muse, or whatever. I’m in love with _you_, dumbass.” Although after that colossal failure of two declarations, he should really reconsider.

It was Tony’s turn to gape at him, popcorn halfway to his mouth. Rhodey resisted the urge to close it for him. “Oh, shit,” Tony said.

Rhodey winced. “Yeah,” he said, heart pounding away in his chest. This wasn’t as bad a reaction as he’d mentally braced himself for, but it was definitely up there.

“That’s…that’s _great!”_

“Um…I beg your pardon?” Just as Rhodey looked up at his friend, two hands were placed roughly on his face, holding it in place as Tony kissed him.

It was a terrible kiss. There was an awful lot of clashing teeth and Rhodey was so flabbergasted by the whole situation that he was probably the equivalent to a dead fish. By the time his brain started whirring again, Tony had already leaned back, and all Rhodey could do was hope that there’d be more opportunities to show Tony that he could actual kiss like a normal person.

“In all your fics,” Tony began, fiddling with the covers of Rhodey’s bed, “that’s what happens after the declaration of love. So I figured that’s what you would want me to do, and _then_ give a nice long speech about how I’ve been in love with you since the day I met you or something like that.”

“And have you?” Rhodey asked, throat working hard. “Have you been in love with me since the day you met me?”

Tony tilted his head a little. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “I can’t really pinpoint a moment where everything changed and it went from me wanting to be your friend so bad I would stay up all night just _planning_ so it’d work out, to being your friend and wanting more. And I guess I stayed up all night planning for that, too, because Jesus fucking Christ, Rhodey, there’s _so much_ on friends-to-lovers on the Internet. It’s insane!”

“Hey, it’s a great trope,” Rhodey defended half-heartedly, content to sit there beside Tony and just _talk_.

Tony fidgeted beside him. “What happens now?” he asked. “Your stories stop here.”

Rhodey hesitated. “They all stop here because I have no idea.”

“Go see a movie with me, then?” Tony asked, as though he’d only been biding his time before he popped the question.

“Like a date?” Rhodey couldn’t help wanting a confirmation, still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Tony to tell him that this there was no way he’d pursue a relationship with him in the middle of term, right before exams, or ever, really. He waited for Tony to tell him that he was only ever going to see Rhodey as a friend, that he would give Rhodey space to get over him.

“Exactly like a date.”

Rhodey smiled, something like relief and happiness flooding through him. It was just as well, really – he didn’t think he could ever get over someone like Tony. “Then yes. But I get to pick the movie.”

“Your choices _never_ turn out well! I asked you out, I get to pick!”

**Author's Note:**

> I've involved Kamala, Miles, and Coulson in this purely bc of the comic "The Fanfiction World of Ms Marvel" which I _highly_ recommend to everyone.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Come say hi on [tumblr](http://fanfictiongreenirises.tumblr.com)!!


End file.
